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Located at Fourth St. and Prytania, in the Historic Garden District of New Orleans, this beautiful home has a number of items of historical interest attached to it. It was designed by Henry Howard and built by Robert Huyghe for Robert Short in 1859.

One of the most unique features of this home is not the house itself but the fence. It is a cast iron fence with a design of intertwined morning glories growing with the corn stalks. The fence was erected by Wood & Mitenberger, the New Orleans branch of the Philadelphia foundry of Wood and Perot. Wood and Perot also cast the corn fence located in the French Quarter.

Legend has it that Col. Short’s wife was lonely for her native Iowa and so Short had the fence made for her. Another source says that the Short’s simply ordered it from the company catalog. Outside of the two corn fences in New Orleans and I am not aware of another in the U.S. or one that is at least a tourist attraction.

Fourth Street View of Corn Fence at the Col. Short Villa

Before the occupation of New Orleans, by the Union Forces, Col. Short returned to his native Kentucky. As a result his property was seized on September 1, 1863. Short was classified as an “Absent Rebel” even though his wife still occupied the house.

Close Up View of Col. Short's Villa

She was ousted from the house in March of 1864 and General Butler turned it into the Executive Mansion for newly elected Federal Governor Mr. Michael Hahn. Two weeks later The U.S. Commander, Department of the Gulf, Major General Nathaniel Banks and family became the new residents.

On August 15, 1865 the property was returned to Col. Short by the U.S. Government. He remained a resident here until his death in 1890.